As part of the Women in AI campaign, the ELOQUENCE project, in collaboration with its sister project TrustLLM, hosted a new WebCafé session dedicated to the role of women in the field of artificial intelligence. The session welcomed Saskia Laning, Consultant AI at the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research, who shared her professional journey, her work on language and speech technologies, and her perspective on building ethical and trustworthy AI in Europe.
Saskia’s path into AI began with a deep fascination for languages. Before entering the world of artificial intelligence, she studied linguistics, driven by curiosity about how languages evolve, how they are processed in the brain, and how they can be represented in computers. Over time, this interest naturally led her toward computational linguistics, statistical modelling, machine learning, natural language processing, and automatic speech recognition.
During the conversation, Saskia explained that her current work brings together research, consultancy, and collaboration with different sectors. In her role, much of her day is spent talking with technical experts, legal scholars, psychologists, business professionals, and other stakeholders. This reflects the complexity of today’s AI landscape, where questions around generative AI are not only technical, but also legal, ethical, social, and economic.
A key part of the discussion focused on GPT-NL, a Dutch initiative aiming to develop a lawful and trustworthy large language model with a strong focus on the Dutch language. Saskia highlighted that building such models in Europe is not only about technological capability, but also about understanding what lawfulness, responsibility, and trustworthiness mean in practice. This includes questions of data, copyright, privacy, infrastructure, and real-world usefulness.
The session also explored the broader future of AI in Europe. According to Saskia, Europe has strong research talent and growing computing infrastructure, but still needs a more dynamic AI industry ecosystem. Public-private partnerships, investment from large companies, and successful products built on top of AI technologies will be crucial for ensuring Europe remains competitive.
Another important theme was ethical AI. Saskia emphasised that an AI system cannot be considered ethical in isolation. Its ethical implications depend on the context in which it is used, who uses it, who is affected by it, and how potential risks are discussed and addressed. For her, responsible AI is an ongoing, iterative process that requires continuous reflection and dialogue.
Finally, as part of the Women in AI campaign, Saskia reflected on diversity in the field. She encouraged women to support one another, recognise talent, ask difficult questions, and help create spaces where inclusion is actively considered rather than assumed. The session offered an honest and inspiring look at both the opportunities and challenges of shaping a more trustworthy, inclusive, and European approach to AI.
